The Collective Oklahoma City’s First Food Hall

We recently took a road trip to Oklahoma City, Ok and found The Collective.   This place is extraordinary and a pleasant surprise.  When you first walk in you see several mini restaurants lined up and plenty of seating.   This is not just a building filled with mini restaurants, they have a 40-foot full bar with 32 rotational taps and a coffee shop, and often have live music.  A true food mall, with a twist.

We ran into the manager, Deprecia. She is an amazing host and very knowledgeable. She showed us around and filled us in on the inspiration for The Collective.

They opened in 2019 and were hit hard when covid happened.   With the rooftop patio that seats almost 100 people, they were able to welcome patrons back to the business.  When you visit don’t forget to take your pooch, the patio is dog friendly.

Thank you Deprecia!

Most of the mini restaurants are a step up from a food truck and gives the owners the ability to learn what it takes to run a full restaurant.  They gain many skills like managing their product, what sells, what doesn’t, and cost of supplies.  With this knowledge many of these small kitchens move on to open full restaurants.   

Look at all the food options here!

Drinks anyone? 40-foot full bar with 32 rotational taps

Always a friendly face!

Did I mention they also allow local artists to sell their artwork here too?  I was amazed at the beautiful pieces hung on the walls!

Paintings from Local artists.

This beautiful dish was prepared at Shaka.  It’s called Ohana Scallops.  They scallops are seared in lemon butter and are served on top of a citrus pineapple mango chutney.  It’s delicious, and I would recommend trying it.

This colorfull taco was prepared at The Fried Taco. The taco in this picture is the Carribean Jerk Chicken.  This taco is delicious! This taco is filled with jerk seasoned chicken thighs, sweet potato bits, queso fresco, and mango chutney. 
The slow cooked meat is shredded, stuffed into a corn tortilla and then fried.  Talk about a wow-factor!  Unfortunately, I could only eat one because I had other dishes to try, but you bet your bottom, when I go back it’s top on my list!

I love spicy food, so I tried the Pineapple Express and the Blueberry with my taco.  They both taste amazing, and yup they’re hot! My favorite is the Blueberry, but if you can’t take the heat, you better skip this one.

Check out these Beef Soya Sticks from Edie’s Grill – YUMMY!  The beef was well seasoned, with a bit of a smoky flavor and the sauce was a perfect, creamy addition to this dish.

We really enjoyed our visit here and will come back when we are in Oklahoma City. Besides, I didn’t get to try all the restaurants yet!